Emrakul was banned due to overwhelming outcry from the community, who told us that ramping quickly into it was one of the most common and least-interesting ways to win
To evolve your Pokmon, you must have a basic character card thats part of an evolution line and then select the appropriate stage 1 or stage 2 card from that line to proceed
(You'll need to wait to see all the cards and the complete scene they create.) There are stand-alone borderless cards, too, such as those historical figures from games
Near Gem Mint cards are nearly perfect
A card becomes a chase card when the community decides it's a must-have
There is, of course, a premium Battle Pass of sorts, which provides ongoing access to more content, and furthermore lets you unlock more content as you progress and time passes